18-Nov-2005 -- After our successful climb to 22N 25E we headed northwest, passing the Clayton Craters on route to the monument of Kamāl al-Dīn at the southern point of the Gilf Kabīr. We camped near the monument to one of Egypt's great explorers who discovered the Gilf, before proceeding up the western edge of the Gilf and up Wādiy al-Firāq to visit Shaw's cave, named after one of the area's early explorers and one of the founders of the LRDG. The cave contains some good examples of rock art and lies only couple of kilometres from the confluence 23N 26E. Wādiy al-Firāq has been mined in the past and having a knowledgeable guide and leader was imperative to do this safely. After admiring the art in Shaw's cave, it was an easy drive round to the Confluence which lay high on the side of the wādiy with good driving all the way, which was just as well after the exertions at 22N 25E.

After that we explored Wādiy al-Arḍ al-Akhḍar before heading out the plain to the West to camp for the night. The plain is surprisingly covered with lots of fresh tracks from smugglers running people and goods between Libya and Sudan. We were disturbed later in the evening by the sound of two vehicles running hard through the night so we doused our lights and put the fire out, to avoid unwelcome visitations, just before their lights appeared around the edge of the dunes a few kilometres to our north. We watched them disappear before putting the lights back on and restarting the fire.